In anticipation of the Dalai Lama's visit to Rutgers, the monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery constructed a mandala sand painting at the Zimmerli Art Museum over a four-day period. The event commenced with a ceremony at noon on Wednesday, September 21. Museum visitors viewed the monks at work through Friday, and the event closed with a ceremony at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 24.

The mandala sand painting celebrates the traditions and cultures of Tibet. In this unique artistic tradition, the monks first create a mandala outline on a wooden platform. They then meticulously pour grains of sand from metal funnels to create the traditional icon, considered by practitioners as a tool for reconsecrating the earth and its inhabitants.

By Tibetan tradition and as a metaphor of life's fleeting quality, the sand painting is destroyed ceremoniously shortly following its completion. The sand is collected and placed in an urn, and—as part of the closing ceremony at the Zimmerli Art Museum—a small portion was deposited into the waters of the Raritan River near Johnson Park. Attendees were invited to join in the procession to the river and were offered a small amount of sand to commemorate their participation in the ceremony. Free bus transportation from the museum to Johnson Park was provided by Academy Bus Company.

Presented by Mystical Arts of Tibet at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum